School Year Snack Ideas

​School Year Snack Ideas

​The new school year has just begun! The Fall sports in Minnesota have been under way for 3 weeks and many students first day of class was today.  I always remember when that when I was in school towards the end of the day, I almost always began to get hungry, especially if I was one of the unfortunate students who received dreaded A Lunch (the first group of students to eat lunch for the day.) 
 
This year at On The Rise many of our drill times are earlier in the day then they were last year, (most of our drills begin at 3:30 pm or 4:00 pm Monday through Friday).  The nice part about this for our student athletes is that after school they can come to tennis practice earlier and release the “sitting all day energy” they have been holding in throughout the day.  Players get to get out of practice earlier and will have an easier time managing their homework load for the school year.  However, a potential pitfall about earlier practice times is that players do not have the ability to get home before practice and grab food in the pantry or refrigerator for important practice fuel.
 
In this blog post, “School Year Snack Ideas.” I wanted to give some Snack Ideas that parents or kids can bring to school and fuel themselves prior to their tennis practice.  The criteria for snacks that I gave myself for these Snack Ideas were; all of the products that I bought were sold at Costco,  all of the products can fit in a student athletes backpack, I wanted to minimize packing/preparation times as best as I could and lastly I went for healthy easily digestible options for the players to have.  I will discuss the 3 School Year Snack Idea Options that I came up with and have a price breakdown.
 
Option 1: Apple Slices, Peanut Butter and RX Bar
The first snack option that I came up with was Apple Slices, Peanut Butter and an RX Bar.  The apple slices at Costco come in prepackaged and pre-sliced and the RX bars are individually packaged as well. This snack option is a breeze to pack into a lunchbox as the only item that needs preparation is putting the peanut butter into a dippable container.  The total cost per snack for Snack Option 1 comes to an approximate total of $2.25 and $2.50.  It all depends on how quickly you go through the peanut butter.

Option 2: Beef Sticks, Snap Peas and Hummus
Snack Option number 2 is a personal favorite of mine. The Archer Farms Beef sticks at Costco are quite tasty and they are made from grass-fed beef. In my experience Snap Peas seem to be one of the vegetables that pickier eaters may gravitate towards. Lastly, the hummus is a great way to add in some healthy fat into a player’s diet.  The total cost per snack for Snack Option 2 is approximately $2.66.
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Option 3: Bananas, Carrots and Guacamole
Snack Option number 3 is a the “lightest” snack idea.  Bananas are always a great option to have when playing outdoors tennis as the potassium can help prevent cramping.  The carrots are a great veggie option that can be dipped into the guacamole cups. If this option is a little too light for your player you can always add in some kind of packaged protein to add a little more weight to this option.  The total cost per snack come to approximately $2.30.
 
I hope you have enjoyed the 3 School Year Snack options that I have come up with. Fueling up before practice is important for any athlete who wants to get the most out of every practice and continuing to grow their game as a tennis player.  These are just some ideas that I came up with personally that I know I would be excited to eat before a tennis practice.  You can swap snack ideas in and out as you see fit. Remember fueling up properly before practice and matches will help you be On The Rise!